Ichabod (Tom Mison), Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) and Jenny (guest star Lyndie Greenwood) have some Revolutionary War story time in this week’s episode. — Fox photo

In this week’s “Sleepy Hollow,” Abbie (Nicole Beharie) gives her fugitive sister Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) a swift five-second recap about who Ichabod is and how he got here. If only this show could be recapped in five seconds. Sadly, not even five minutes would do it justice. Instead, by episode’s end, we had added a whole new layer to the fast-growing mythology that takes this show one step from the looney bin and one episode past being the most addictive and kooky show on TV. This week, the history books were rewritten, we put a name to the blurry horned face we keep seeing in the woods and we find out that the Jenny is basically Lara Croft. All in an episode, I suppose. Here are the highlights:

Sister, Interrupted: Jenny, fresh off her institution break, donned the incognito combo of a black hoodie and sunglasses as she made her way to retrieve a duffle bag of goodies from the safety of a local dive bar. But someone (with a curiously husky phone voice) is looking for the youngest Mills sister and tortures the bar owner to death for intel (and by torture, I mean bleed him out on his pool table and then hang his headless body on the wall like a deer head). Armed and definitely dangerous, Jenny heads to Sheriff Corbin’s cabin where she has a standoff with a testy Abbie. After some tough love from Ichabod, the sisters mend fences for a second as they enter into a gunfight with the bar torturers, only to capture their leader. Tied down and talking riddles, the man tells the trio that the practicioners of evil are all over Sleepy Hollow. At this time, the show is curiously following Captain Irving (Orlando Jones) and Det. Morales (Nicholas Gonzalez) as they raid the home of seemingly nice music teacher.

Another Historical Revision: The Boston Tea Party was really a distraction to steal a chest of stone that held a book from King Solomon needed for the Hessian evil cause, according to one of Ichabod’s amusing history lessons. He was at the harbor in Boston when the infamous night took place and was tasked, by Washington himself, to bring the chest back. The chest is what the Hessian torturers are looking for. After their prisoner takes a cyanide capsule and leaves them hanging, the trio at the cabin put their heads together and deduce that the chest has to be at an old church in Sleepy Hollow (isn’t everything old?).

Goo in the Pew: At the predictably dark church, two Hessian goons find the Boston Harbor chest and activate the book with their own blood. (Side note: Please don’t return that book to the library. Thanks.) Soon, a pool of goo overflows from the holy water stone font and scary, screeching skeletons fight to rise from the flaming pentagon now in the floor. What is this show? Fighting the goons, Abbie, Ichabod and Jenny prevail and burn the book (and the goons), closing the portal and keeping those terrifying skeletons at bay… for now. Thank goodness because those are the last things we need roaming around Sleepy Hollow.

Evil Gets a Name: When interrogating the Hessian henchman, Ichabod and the Mills sisters find out, through a little German prophecy and later a peek at John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” that the horned demon that had been stalking the sisters and the town for decades is named Moloch. Dun, dun, dun.

Mills Family History: This week, we also got another peek into Abbie’s past. Before the four white trees debacle, her and Jenny’s father bailed on them and their mother had mental breakdown. Left alone, they were sent into foster care, when a more-reserved Abbie found one home, while Jenny was relocated seven times. Can we please get some happiness in the Mills sisters’ backstory? Did they ever visit Santa Clause at the mall? Get a puppy? See a double rainbow? Something!

Hello, This Is OnStar: The beginning of the episode gave way to a shining example of the show’s deadpan humor as Ichabod had the most entertaining interaction with an OnStar operator that one can possibly have. Recounting the deep ties he feels for his dead-but-not-really wife (“The kind of love that makes the mundane a marvel,” he muses), Ichabod moves an OnStar operator named Yolanda to tears before thanking her for “unlocking this vehicle from afar.” By the time he pronounces her name in his Old English accent, she is thanking him for his beautiful words on love. A truly great comedy bit, especially for a doom-and-gloom show.

Horseman Update: Where is the ol’ Headless Horseman?! I demand a check in to see how he is acclimating to the 21st century. Is he still wandering aimlessly looking for his head or just chilling by the river plucking flowers? I need answers!

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About This Blog

Hi! My name is Hunter Ingram and I’m the film/TV reporter for StarNews Media. I will be the primary blogger for WilmonFilm, but other staffers, including Community Engagement Editor Jeff Hidek and freelance reporter Brian Tucker, are likely to contribute from time to time.

With this blog, I aim to be Southeastern North Carolina’s go-to source for all things film and TV. Wilmington and its surrounding areas are rich with intriguing projects, from the big-budget blockbusters to the small-scale, high-impact independent films. I will post everything from breaking news to offbeat features that will cover every facet of the entertainment news emerging from the area. So bookmark this page and be on the lookout every day for new posts!

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